Wanted a set of LF Blitz 240s for a long time but was concerned that they would not have the short-range scatter capability of a larger LED light bar. Since I had already converted my OEM low beams to 55W HID I knew that an HID conversion could provide a large increase in light output. I was severely mistaken.
These lights are stupid, melt your face off, cause permanent psychological damage to nocturnal mammals bright.
As it relates to the 100 Series, I also wanted to see how far I could go using the factory fog light connections as I think they are rated at 55 Watts. I found a good thread on pulling a pin on the harness just beneath the steering column which allows you to use the stalk switch to turn the fog lights on and off regardless of whether you have your hi or low beams on. This allows me to keep switches off the dash for the time being. If I add any more load, I am going to move the Slee dual battery setup up on the build list. Anyway here is the hundy in full glory!... That dim light up on top...Well, that's the Sun.
And here is the good news; the upgrade will only cost you $100-150. Compared to the cost of out-of-the-box HID lights you can save between $300-700 with this mod. Plus I am not aware of any Lightforce-produced 100W HIDs.
Basically what you do is order the older style LF heatsinks that have been drilled out to accommodate an H3 HID bulb. The heatsinks I received were tooled in a way that sets the "filament" on the H3 HID bulb in the exact same location as the filament on the standard LF halogen bulb. This means that you get the exact same light tuning capabilities that were designed into the LF lamp housing. You can easily go from pencil beam to flood and use any combination of filters you choose. You get the intended projection effect but RIDICULOUS amounts of light.
I got the idea here: (Link to Bushy's site): Lightforce HID conversions. BUSHY 555's HID-IS-CLEVER-NOW HID site.
Tools/Part needed:
- Set of Lightforce Blitz 240s (Strikers will work too)
- Modified older style LF heatsinks (eBay)
- 100W HID kit (100W digital ballasts, 100W H3 bulbs and heavy duty wiring harness)
- Drill
- 7/64 Drill bit
- Pointed tweezers (modified by bending one of the tips about 20 degrees)
- Red high temp silicone
- Small screwdriver
- Jeweler's screwdriver (flat tip)
- Silicone spray (anything that lubes but does not damage plastic/rubber)
- Latex gloves
- Lint-free towels or paper towels (silicone clean up)
Conversion Procedure:
READ ENTIRELY BEFORE DIVING IN AS YOU MIGHT GET STUCK NEEDING THREE HANDS IF YOU HAVE NOT PLANNED CORRECTLY
1. Unscrew the LF lamp housings, cover up the holes so things that can cause scratches, cannot get in. Set the lamp housings aside.
2. Remove the light bulb currently attached to the lamp and throw it in the same container where all of your other OEM interior bulbs were placed after you converted them to LED.
3. On the stem part of the lamp, you will notice a rivet that is usually covered and protected from the elements by two o-rings. Drill it out with the 7/64 drill bit. Go slow as to not cause damage to the plastic threads on the stem component.
4. Cut the wire connectors for the stock bulb assembly as close to the connector (free) ends as possible in case you want to build the whole lamp back to original someday.
5. Use a small screwdriver to loosen up the watertight plug fitting that the wires go through. Pull the plug completely free from the whole assembly.
6. At this point you can easily remove the piece that holds the stock bulb. It will have the two lead wires still connected to it. Place these in a Ziploc bag and label it "never to be used again".
7. Insert the modified heatsinks into the LF stem assembly and note the hole in the side of them. You want this to line up with the rivet hole on the LF stem component. They should fit relatively snug. If they don't, you can add a small dab of red silicone to them to "glue" them in place. Don't glue them in place right now though! Here is a pic of the modified heatsinks:
8. Take the HID bulbs and use the modified tweezers to disconnect the AMP connectors from the wires. Take a picture of one first so that you will remember which connector goes to which color wire. Here is the link for accomplishing this step. It took me a few minutes to figure it out but it is not rocket science. HOW TO: Take apart AMP Connectors
9. Feed the wires through the LF lamp stem and the watertight plug fitting removed in step 5. You may want to give the wires a squirt of silicone spray. Leave everything loose. Don't try to snug the HID bulb up to the LF stem housing yet. Allow 2-3 inches for attaching the HID bulb to the modified heatsinks.
10. Now comes the fun part. Put your latex gloves on and snug the HID bulb up to the modified heatsink. You want the rod side of the HID bulb to point straight up as to not cast any shadows on your light spread while at the same time ensuring that the modified heatsink hole aligns with the rivet hole on the LF stem component. Line all of this up (super easy) and turn the bulb/heatsink assembly bulb-side down and add a good amount of red high temp silicone. You are creating a shock resistant foundation for your HID bulb to live in so don't go light with the silicone. Pull the bulb apart from the heatsink a tiny bit to ensure that red silicone gets in between the bulb base and the heatsink then press and align the two pieces.
11. While maintaining a bulb-down orientation, clamp, zip tie, rubber band, etc. the two pieces together in a manner where you can let this assembly sit, set and dry for 24 hours. I used a shop vice to hold the heatsink and a zip tie to hold the bulb in place. If you get red silicone all over the place, have no fear. It is easily removable. Wipe it if it is wet and use a razor blade to scrape it off if it is dry. Under no circumstances attach the bulb lenses while the silicon is still wet. As it cures it lets off toxic vapors that can damage reflective insides of the bulb lenses.
12. Go talk to your wife and ask her something that you know will get you a ten minute response. Act like you are paying attention and at any pause, make a question out of the last two or three words she says (this game can go on for hours). Play with the kids. Pet the dog, whatever. You can't mess with the lights again for 23 hours and 37 minutes.
13. After letting the silicone dry, check your work and ensure that the HID bulbs are aligned correctly.
14. Ok, now you can press the HID bulb/heatsink assembly into the LF stem component. If it does not feel snug enough, add a little red silicone to the side of the heatsink. You don't want to permanently glue the heatsink in place because you might want to get back in there at some point to change bulb types, etc.
15. Pull the slack out of the wires running out of the back of the rubber watertight fitting on the LF stem piece. Snug up the rubber watertight plug in the back of the stem assembly. This plug has has a slot in it that you can use a screwdriver on to push it back into the stem housing. You might want to add a little silicone spray to the plug end so that it slides into the stem a little easier.
16. Re-attach the AMP connectors.
17. Re-attach the lenses.
18. Run the wiring harness by first disconnecting the black (-) side of the battery. Wrap a latex glove around the end so that it cannot accidentally make a circuit.
19. Harness is like any other HID one. Red to red, black to ground, connection to tap into fog lights, etc. Not going into great detail here as many will have different needs/wants.
20. Secure the 100W digital ballasts somewhere away from heat (if you can). I chose to mount them inside my aftermarket bumper and I will move them a bit when I install a winch. This way they get plenty of air flow. Also, make sure you have enough length on your harness run to reach the ballasts. You can buy amp extenders to give you some more options for bulb to ballast positioning but I have read that with 100W ballasts, you need not mess with the length of the supplied heavy duty wiring harness.
21. Once everything is buttoned up, reconnect the battery and prepare to be amazed.
Note: If I messed up an install procedure, please let me know and I will update this thread.
These lights are stupid, melt your face off, cause permanent psychological damage to nocturnal mammals bright.
As it relates to the 100 Series, I also wanted to see how far I could go using the factory fog light connections as I think they are rated at 55 Watts. I found a good thread on pulling a pin on the harness just beneath the steering column which allows you to use the stalk switch to turn the fog lights on and off regardless of whether you have your hi or low beams on. This allows me to keep switches off the dash for the time being. If I add any more load, I am going to move the Slee dual battery setup up on the build list. Anyway here is the hundy in full glory!... That dim light up on top...Well, that's the Sun.
And here is the good news; the upgrade will only cost you $100-150. Compared to the cost of out-of-the-box HID lights you can save between $300-700 with this mod. Plus I am not aware of any Lightforce-produced 100W HIDs.
Basically what you do is order the older style LF heatsinks that have been drilled out to accommodate an H3 HID bulb. The heatsinks I received were tooled in a way that sets the "filament" on the H3 HID bulb in the exact same location as the filament on the standard LF halogen bulb. This means that you get the exact same light tuning capabilities that were designed into the LF lamp housing. You can easily go from pencil beam to flood and use any combination of filters you choose. You get the intended projection effect but RIDICULOUS amounts of light.
I got the idea here: (Link to Bushy's site): Lightforce HID conversions. BUSHY 555's HID-IS-CLEVER-NOW HID site.
Tools/Part needed:
- Set of Lightforce Blitz 240s (Strikers will work too)
- Modified older style LF heatsinks (eBay)
- 100W HID kit (100W digital ballasts, 100W H3 bulbs and heavy duty wiring harness)
- Drill
- 7/64 Drill bit
- Pointed tweezers (modified by bending one of the tips about 20 degrees)
- Red high temp silicone
- Small screwdriver
- Jeweler's screwdriver (flat tip)
- Silicone spray (anything that lubes but does not damage plastic/rubber)
- Latex gloves
- Lint-free towels or paper towels (silicone clean up)
Conversion Procedure:
READ ENTIRELY BEFORE DIVING IN AS YOU MIGHT GET STUCK NEEDING THREE HANDS IF YOU HAVE NOT PLANNED CORRECTLY
1. Unscrew the LF lamp housings, cover up the holes so things that can cause scratches, cannot get in. Set the lamp housings aside.
2. Remove the light bulb currently attached to the lamp and throw it in the same container where all of your other OEM interior bulbs were placed after you converted them to LED.
3. On the stem part of the lamp, you will notice a rivet that is usually covered and protected from the elements by two o-rings. Drill it out with the 7/64 drill bit. Go slow as to not cause damage to the plastic threads on the stem component.
4. Cut the wire connectors for the stock bulb assembly as close to the connector (free) ends as possible in case you want to build the whole lamp back to original someday.
5. Use a small screwdriver to loosen up the watertight plug fitting that the wires go through. Pull the plug completely free from the whole assembly.
6. At this point you can easily remove the piece that holds the stock bulb. It will have the two lead wires still connected to it. Place these in a Ziploc bag and label it "never to be used again".
7. Insert the modified heatsinks into the LF stem assembly and note the hole in the side of them. You want this to line up with the rivet hole on the LF stem component. They should fit relatively snug. If they don't, you can add a small dab of red silicone to them to "glue" them in place. Don't glue them in place right now though! Here is a pic of the modified heatsinks:
8. Take the HID bulbs and use the modified tweezers to disconnect the AMP connectors from the wires. Take a picture of one first so that you will remember which connector goes to which color wire. Here is the link for accomplishing this step. It took me a few minutes to figure it out but it is not rocket science. HOW TO: Take apart AMP Connectors
9. Feed the wires through the LF lamp stem and the watertight plug fitting removed in step 5. You may want to give the wires a squirt of silicone spray. Leave everything loose. Don't try to snug the HID bulb up to the LF stem housing yet. Allow 2-3 inches for attaching the HID bulb to the modified heatsinks.
10. Now comes the fun part. Put your latex gloves on and snug the HID bulb up to the modified heatsink. You want the rod side of the HID bulb to point straight up as to not cast any shadows on your light spread while at the same time ensuring that the modified heatsink hole aligns with the rivet hole on the LF stem component. Line all of this up (super easy) and turn the bulb/heatsink assembly bulb-side down and add a good amount of red high temp silicone. You are creating a shock resistant foundation for your HID bulb to live in so don't go light with the silicone. Pull the bulb apart from the heatsink a tiny bit to ensure that red silicone gets in between the bulb base and the heatsink then press and align the two pieces.
11. While maintaining a bulb-down orientation, clamp, zip tie, rubber band, etc. the two pieces together in a manner where you can let this assembly sit, set and dry for 24 hours. I used a shop vice to hold the heatsink and a zip tie to hold the bulb in place. If you get red silicone all over the place, have no fear. It is easily removable. Wipe it if it is wet and use a razor blade to scrape it off if it is dry. Under no circumstances attach the bulb lenses while the silicon is still wet. As it cures it lets off toxic vapors that can damage reflective insides of the bulb lenses.
12. Go talk to your wife and ask her something that you know will get you a ten minute response. Act like you are paying attention and at any pause, make a question out of the last two or three words she says (this game can go on for hours). Play with the kids. Pet the dog, whatever. You can't mess with the lights again for 23 hours and 37 minutes.
13. After letting the silicone dry, check your work and ensure that the HID bulbs are aligned correctly.
14. Ok, now you can press the HID bulb/heatsink assembly into the LF stem component. If it does not feel snug enough, add a little red silicone to the side of the heatsink. You don't want to permanently glue the heatsink in place because you might want to get back in there at some point to change bulb types, etc.
15. Pull the slack out of the wires running out of the back of the rubber watertight fitting on the LF stem piece. Snug up the rubber watertight plug in the back of the stem assembly. This plug has has a slot in it that you can use a screwdriver on to push it back into the stem housing. You might want to add a little silicone spray to the plug end so that it slides into the stem a little easier.
16. Re-attach the AMP connectors.
17. Re-attach the lenses.
18. Run the wiring harness by first disconnecting the black (-) side of the battery. Wrap a latex glove around the end so that it cannot accidentally make a circuit.
19. Harness is like any other HID one. Red to red, black to ground, connection to tap into fog lights, etc. Not going into great detail here as many will have different needs/wants.
20. Secure the 100W digital ballasts somewhere away from heat (if you can). I chose to mount them inside my aftermarket bumper and I will move them a bit when I install a winch. This way they get plenty of air flow. Also, make sure you have enough length on your harness run to reach the ballasts. You can buy amp extenders to give you some more options for bulb to ballast positioning but I have read that with 100W ballasts, you need not mess with the length of the supplied heavy duty wiring harness.
21. Once everything is buttoned up, reconnect the battery and prepare to be amazed.
Note: If I messed up an install procedure, please let me know and I will update this thread.
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